The
Chairman reminded members of the public that they were permitted to
film, blog, tweet or take photographs of the meeting but if they
did, to do so without causing a disturbance to the meeting
proceedings. The Chairman also pointed out that members of the
public who were not part of the meeting had not consented to being
recorded and therefore should not be included in any recording
activity.

The Chief Executive introduced
Mr Rob Harbour, the new Deputy Director for Places and the Chairman
welcomed him to the meeting.

494.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

In
accordance with the Regulations, Members are required to declare
any personal or prejudicial interests they may have and the nature
of those interests in respect of items on this Agenda and/or
indicate if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992
applies to them.

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were
received.

495.

RECORD OF DECISIONS

To
confirm the Record of Decisions made at the meeting of the Cabinet
held on 18 December 2018.

Minutes:

The Record of Decisions made at the
meeting of the cabinet on 18 December 2018, copies of which had
been previously circulated, were confirmed.

496.

ITEMS RAISED BY SCRUTINY

To
receive items raised by members of scrutiny which have been
submitted to the Leader (copied to Chief Executive and Governance
Officer) by 4.30 pm on Friday 11 January 2019.

Report No.4/2019 was received from the
Strategic Director for Resources.

Mr Gordon Brown, Portfolio Holder for
Finance, introduced the report the purpose of which was for
Cabinet, as it is required, to set a balanced budget and agree the
level of Council tax for 2019/20 in the context of its Medium Term
Financial Plan. The report presented a draft budget for
consultation prior to the budget being formally set in February
2019.

During discussion the following points
were noted:

·It was important that
this budget was taken in the context of the uncertainty that the
Council currently faced due to Brexit, a potential general election
and possible recession, and the fact that future funding beyond
2022 was unknown. These factors necessitated prudence going
forward.

·The Council was
however in a better position than originally anticipated as a
result of a great deal of work done by officers that had resulted
in significant savings and identified future savings.

·The funding split was
significant as Rutland‘s budget was funded 72% by Council tax
and 28% by Government. Rutland received less funding per head than
any other unitary authority.

·The Council was
predicting a gap in funding and unless there was a change to
Government funding the Council would have to run down reserves if
the Council tax and adult social care precept were not
increased.

·St George’s
Barracks was an issue but also an opportunity as the Master Plan
continued. There were no significant risks in the Medium Term
Financial Plan (MTFP) as the revenue stream would start after the
term of the MTFP.

·Inflation had been
higher than the 2% target and so had had a negative impact on
finances.

·Rutland had a higher
proportion of its population aged over 55 so there would be a pent
up demand for adult social care going forward.

·The Council’s
reserves position compared favourably with other unitary
authorities.

·The expenditure chart
on page 45 of the report referred to looked after children. This
should have read children looked after.

·The Council had been
actively making its voice heard in respect of the level of funding
that Rutland received. Although urban areas often had greater
needs, rural areas had greater costs. The Government was looking at
the needs issue but also looking at the fairness of that approach.
The Leader and Portfolio Holder had written to Rutland’s MP,
Sir Alan Duncan, and had been assured that he would be making
strong representations on the Council’s behalf. Talks had
also been held on this issue with the Local Government
Authority.

Report No. 05/2019 was received from the
Strategic Director for Resources.

Mr Gorden
Brown, Portfolio Holder for Finance, introduced the report the
purpose of which was toset out the statutory
reports expected in relation to treasury and capital investment
operations for 2019/20, linked to the Council’s Budget,
Medium Term Financial Strategy and Capital Programme.

During discussion the following points were noted:

·The report showed that there were sufficient funds
held to meet spending plans.

·Retained monies would be put into an investment
scheme to produce a revenue stream.

·The portfolio holder assured Cabinet that the
investment scheme’s priority would be the retention of
capital and the Council would not be taking risks with any high
return investments.

Report No.6/2019 was received from the
Strategic Director for Resources.

Mr Gordon Brown, Portfolio Holder for
Finance, introduced the report the purpose of which was toset out the proposals for fees and charges for
services provided by the Council for the financial year
2019/20.

During discussion the following points were noted:

·Taxi and vehicle licensing fees were subject to a
separate review.

·It was important that fees and charges were set at
an appropriate level to maximise income.

·Some fees and charges were set at a statutory level
and others were discretionary. The basic principle applied to
discretionary fees was to increase by inflation unless there was a
business case to do otherwise.

·Gambling fees had doubled to bring them into line
with Peterborough City Council who delivered this service on the
Council’s behalf.

·The Green Waste Management Charge would not be
increased this year and for those on benefits there would be a
small reduction.

·Grave fees were being increased in line with
neighbouring authorities.

·Licences for closing roads and for skips,
scaffolding etc. had been revised to cover the true costs to the
authority.

·Following representations from shop owners in
Uppingham and Oakham and a subsequent review of parking charges,
the first 30 minutes of parking in all car parks would now be free
of charge. All car parks would also now be treated the same and
they would no longer be categorised as short or long
stay.

·In order to encourage a cashless approach to
parking, the Council would absorb the 20p charge for using the
RinGo service.

·Parishes had been asked to pay for the May 2019
elections themselves and had been offered an option of repaying
over a four year period.

·The 30 minutes of free parking operation was being
monitored to ensure that it was used correctly and drivers were not
overstaying their time. The monitoring was currently operated by
the Council’s own parking enforcement officers.

DECISIONS:

Cabinet RECOMMENDED TO
COUNCIL:

1.To APPROVE the level of fees and
charges for 2019/20 as set out in Appendices 1-4 with the exception
of taxi and private hire vehicle licenses.

2.To NOTE that taxi and private hire
vehicle licenses fees will be subject to consultation through a
public notice procedure and be brought back for approval following
that consultation.

Reasons for the decision

The annual
review of fees and charges is an integral part of the budget and
council tax setting process and is also to ensure the Council is
compliant with legislative guidance. It
is therefore recommended that Cabinet approve the proposals set out
in the document.

Report No. 7/2019 was received from the Strategic Director
for People.

Mr Alan Walters, Portfolio Holder for
Safeguarding-Adults, introduced the report the purpose of which was
toset out the recommissioning work
undertaken so far for the future provision of domestic abuse and
sexual violence services in Rutland, and the plans for completing
the recommissioning work including subsequent procurement, and the
request to undertake a public consultation on the potential models
of service provision.

During discussion the following points were noted:

·Officers did not wish to extend the contract past
the existing contract extension of March 2020 and so needed to go
out to consultation now in order to allow enough time for the
recommissioning process.

DECISIONS:

Cabinet:

1.NOTEDthe work
being undertaken to recommission the domestic abuse and sexual
violence services for the future across Leicester, Leicestershire
and Rutland.

2.APPROVEDthe
request to undertake public consultation on the potential structure
for services

Reasons
for the decisions

1.The recommissioning of DA/SV services is
designed to improve the service offer
available to Rutland residents and make it more accessible, thereby
reducing the impact which domestic abuse and sexual violence have
in Rutland on both individuals and the wider
community.

2.The consultation will enable
commissioners to take into account as many views as possible,
including those of service users, to ensure that a service model is
designed which is fit for purpose, meets needs and addresses
current challenges with the services.

Report No. 8/2019 was received from the
Strategic Director for Places.

Mr Gordon Brown, Portfolio Holder for
Finance, introduced the report the purpose of which was to approve
the loan of £70,000 to the Rutland Agricultural Society for
the purpose of extending and improving the car park at the Rutland
Showground.

During discussion the following points
were noted:

·The conditions of
repayment had been delegated to the Director of Resources and the
Portfolio Holder.

·The Rutland
Agricultural Society had received an earlier loan of £75,000
funded from Section 106 monies and this had been repaid in
full.

·Members were fully
supportive of this type of loan as an appropriate way of using
funds.

The provision of the requested loan will enable
the Rutland Agricultural society to make improvements to its site,
which will benefit significant numbers of residents and visitors to
the County. The terms of the loan will ensure the Council is not
left out of pocket once the repayment is received.

502.

ANY ITEMS OF URGENT BUSINESS

To
receive items of urgent business which have previously been
notified to the person presiding.